{Telling a tale of grace, love, life & faith}

Monthly Archives: January 2013

Life with Oliver has been such an adventure so far! I realize I’ve been slacking off on my blogging lately, and for that I apologize. I am definitely going to be trying to be more intentional about posting 🙂

So…. what is life like as a new mama? What are some important thing I have learned in the last two months?

1. Always… ALWAYS… expect the unexpected. You think you have your babies schedule figured out? Ha! Think again! You baby likes to lay in one position at 9am, but hates it at 4pm, and loves it again at 1am. A drive may work to calm baby today, but he’ll scream in the car tomorrow. Nothing is ever set in stone with babies. They are constantly evolving and discovering new things, and because of this, their tastes and habits will be ever changing. Oliver’s newest habits? Going to bed at 1-2am and sleeping until 11am-12pm. Needing a nap in the afternoon, but needing to be held to sleep. Screaming bloody murder when the bottle is taken out of his mouth so I can burp him. And crying when we leave the room.

2.You adjust to waking up early, staying up late, getting up 2-3 times a night… basically, you learn how to live with no sleep. In the beginning, Oli was up every 2-3 hours. Now that we’ve reached the 2 month mark, he typically will only wake up 2 times a night. Which is wonderful! Especially since daddy doesn’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore…

3. Find shortcuts. Not shortcuts that will affect your baby, but shortcuts that help you. In the beginning, we suffered thru tons of crying while we waited for the bottle to heat up. Now, we keep a thermos full of warm water. I used to take Oliver all the way into his room to change him in the middle of the night, which would wake him up even more and make it harder for him to go back to sleep. Now I keep a stack of diapers by my bed and change him on the bed, while he’s still half asleep. If its poopy, then I go into the bedroom where the wipes and trashcan are.

4. Don’t beat yourself up if you have to formula feed. Its not the end of the world. Yes, its unfortunate that you can’t give your baby the benefits of breast milk. However, the most important thing is that baby is alive, growing and thriving. Actually, its the only thing that matters.

5. If you have a spitter, be prepared to change yours and baby’s outfits multiple times a day. If baby is an excessive spitter like Oliver is, use a towel as a burp rag and protect your furniture.

6. Have a little boy? Prepare to be baptized multiple times. Also, beware of the triple threat… pee, poo and spit up, all at once, all while changing him. Its a fun trio.

7. Chores and work can wait.

8. Let others help! But don’t expect them to do everything. I once read something online where a new mom had a detailed “help” list. Including things like, buy groceries and then make dinner. Or, take the dogs for a walk, change the cat litter and let me nap for 3 hours. Thats just crazy talk. I’m thrilled if someone brings me lunch or gives me some much needed adult time.

9. If you can’t prepare meals in the freezer before baby is born (like I couldn’t), then don’t think extravagant for dinners. Microwaved meals and frozen lasagna are things that you can live off of for a while. And there is no shame in ordering a pizza.

10. Give daddy a few responsibilities. In our home, Joe works and is out of the home from about 7am – 5:30pm. I let him come home, clean himself up, eat if dinner is ready, and then his shift starts. He’s responsible for the feedingss until about 1am, the diaper changes, the fussy spells, ect. And then when he wakes up in the morning, if Oliver hasn’t been changed in a couple hours and/or needs to be fed, Joe changes him and makes me a bottle. I’m sure it sounds like a lot… the poor guy is up on roofs all day and then has to come home and take care of the baby? I’m a monster!!! But for example, right now, Joe and our friend John are playing Call of Duty and Oliver is happily playing on his activity mat. I’m not too horrible.

And one more for good measure…

11. The baby is in charge. No ifs, ands or buts about it!

Like I said… life with my little man — and big man too — has been quite the adventure! I’ll make sure I’m blogging more about the adventures of Oliver as he grows. Until next time! 🙂